10 Pettiest On Set Movie Feuds

The 2013 film Begin Again is a perfectly pleasant romcom starring Mark Ruffalo as a jaded record company exec whose passion for music is reawakened when he hears the mellifluous voice of singer songwriter Keira Knightley. He encourages her to make some real art, things progress much as you’d expect, end credits. It’s a fine enough film bolstered by the leads’ chemistry, and nothing about it suggests that director John Carney would go on to behave like a real jerk.

Only, he did! Evidently Carney and Knightley did not get on at all well during production, and that beef lived rent free in the director’s mind for many years. While promoting another film three years later, Carney fired shots implicit and explicit at his former leading lady, stating as a positive that his new film had “no Keira Knightleys in it”.

More unpleasantly, he repeatedly described Knightley, then a near-20 year industry veteran, as a “model”, leading to several far more talented directors to come to her defence. Carney has since apologised for his idiotic spoutings, which Knightley has graciously accepted. She acknowledged that the two had not gotten along, presumably keeping more choice feelings to herself.